Today my oldest turned 8. It hardly seems like it has been that long, but here we are. He changed my world when he entered my life and there has never been a dull moment since. Happy Birthday, Kiddo. Thanks for letting me be your Mom. I love you.

The following event occurred yesterday morning whilst I was in the store grabbing a pack of diapers for Big Trouble (who is obviously still determined to break me in the potty training department since we were getting yet another pack of diapers, not underwear).

The Setting:

Big Trouble was being quite the little gentleman and this trip to the store had me beaming at the people passing by as I showed off how well my little boy was behaving. Yep; pat on the back for being an awesome mom; isn’t he just the cutest little thing?! I made him.

The Incident:

Then he opened his mouth and SHOUTED a question that no one ever wants to be asked loudly in public: “MOM, DO YOU NEED TO POOP IN THE POTTY?”

Shh! No honey, Mommy’s just fine right now, thank you.

He wasn’t satisfied so there was a follow-up question: “NEED TO PEE-PEE?” (people are now staring and snickering)

No baby, Mommy already went to the potty. Do you need to go?

“NO! DID YOU TOOT?”

Good Lord, NO! There are no bodily functions going on right now so please stop shouting!

“I GET DIAPERS. I STINKY GROSSY! MOMMY STINKY GROSSY! HA HA!”

Oh my Lord, please just come with me to the self-checkout so I don’t have to face a real cashier!…..

End of Scene.

Needless to say, I was quite embarrassed by this happy outburst. I assume it was payback for my constant barrage of questions concerning his potty training process and lack of progress, but who can say?

I know I can’t be the only one with crazy kids who say things like this, right?!

I saw the idea of a personality doppelganger on another blog and I thought it was a cute idea (please forgive me for not knowing the exact name of the blog because I found it by accident and when I tried to get the link, I couldn’t find it again for the life of me!). The basic concept is to think of a celebrity (or well-known character) whose personality reminds you of your kid(s). I like the idea of comparing personalities vs. looks because I believe that personality is so much more telling of who a person is!

So, here’s what I came up with for how my precious little ones have developed so far. 🙂

First up: Big Brother. I have been told several times that because he has a very sophisticated vocabulary for his age and loves learning, he reminds people of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. Now, he’s no Einstein, but I totally get the comparison, especially since he loves to point out when I am being sarcastic (though I’d like to think my boy’s social skills are on a much higher level than Sheldon’s).

Next, The Princess. Now, you might think that I would compare her to a princess since that’s how I refer to her, but my sweet girl reminds me WAY too much of my little sister (which is scary) who was actually named after the Chipette “Brittany” from the original Alvin and the Chipmunks. She’s definitely sassy and not one to back down easily.

And, finally, we have Big Trouble. My original thought was to post a picture of the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Toons because he is just a mess; but lately, he has been acting more like the Dog from Up. I find myself saying “focus” a lot these days because he will be talking about something and then stop suddenly and notice something else exciting…and then something else…and something else, etc. Every time he does this, I immediately want to shout out “SQUIRREL”.So, here you have my approximation of my children’s personality doppelgangers.

Does anyone else ever have these kinds of comparisons with their kids? 🙂

Today, Big Trouble started drinking from a straw. I’ll hold for applause.

SUCCESS!

Now, this may not seem like that big of a deal, but seeing as though he gets soaked every time he tries to drink out of a regular cup, it really is! The kid can literally take a dime-sized amount of water and make it look like he just survived a flash flood.

But now, thanks to this new development, we can start using the “big kid” cups with lids and straws instead of sippy cups or the “ok, guess we’ll go get a bath now” cups! I’ll admit that it was torture so fun making weird faces and trying to give him samples of how to sip from a straw, only to have him just make noises and/or accidentally blow spit bubbles and laugh.

Mind you, this has gone on for nearly a year. The kid has no interest in my time frame for ANYTHING. I’m just now starting to get that (can’t imagine where he gets his stubbornness from). But, I keep trying like the idiot that I am because I that’s my job. And, nothing makes me feel like a bigger success than finally seeing one of my kids master something they have been trying to do; even if it is as insignificant a milestone as drinking from a straw.

The moment I saw my troublemaker give me a huge victory smile, thus drooling out most of the liquid he had just learned to sip up, I held my head high, looked to the sky and thought, “yeah, I taught him that” (not the drooling part, just to clarify; the actual sipping from a straw). I am a success and so is my boy!

Then I turned back to look at my precious little one who was making me so proud…and I see this:

“Wook at my hat, mom”

Yep. That’s the inside of his consistently unused potty seat sitting there, upside down on his head. I did not teach him that. Guess we still have a little work left to do on some of our skills….sigh.

had to also include Greg too, because even though he got sick before Big Trouble was born, my big kids remember him and we still watch old episodes.

Ok, the title of this post either made you smile or made you cringe. I know the feeling. Right now, The Wiggles are Big Trouble’s obsession. Do they sometimes get annoying? Yes. Could it be worse? ABSOLUTELY (see his previous use of torturous kids shows)!!!! So I’m not going to complain.

I actually catch myself singing along and dancing like an idiot with them without even realizing it and Big Trouble laughs like the combination of his crazy mother and 4 Australian guys and their pals are the best thing ever. That works for me. (sidenote: I haven’t seen much of the new Wiggles, which includes a girl but I’m pretty sure I will still prefer old school Wiggles – I think I like to see guys making fools of themselves for kids more, but I’ll reserve judgment)

Big brother dancing at a Wiggles concert in 2008 (yes, we went to Wiggles Live!)

I am woman mom enough to suck it up and let him enjoy the Wiggles, even going so far as to continuously put the same On Demand episode on repeat and check out dvds from the library so he always has some available. (another sidenote: young Anthony was not nearly as handsome as old Anthony – he aged really well! Now you know how pathetic my life has become because I am commenting on the attractiveness of a Wiggle….hanging head in shame.)

I think of all of the shows out these days, I can tolerate the Wiggles the best (at least on repeat) so I am kind of grateful that he hasn’t latched onto other, more annoying shows. But, I know there are others who detest The Wiggles like I detest Caillou.

So, what are your favorite kids’ shows (any other Wiggles lovers out there)? And which ones make you want to stab yourself in the eyes with a fork (uh, hello there, Caillou)? 🙂